NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team dropped an, 87-70, decision to league leader Belmont Thursday night in the Gentry Center.

The Lady Tiger offense went cold in the second quarter as the Bruins used a 24-2 run to open up the lead. TSU competed in the final two quarters, outscoring the Bruins 22-16 in the final frame but the deficit proved too much to overcome.

The game was tied 10-10 when Belmont used an 11-2 run to move ahead 21-12.

The Lady Tigers answered with a rally and pulled to within three, 26-23, following a three-pointer by Asia Sims.

The TSU offense, however, went cold and BU went on a 24-2 run over a span of nearly seven minutes to capture a, 48-25, lead.

Tia Wooten connected in the paint to end TSU’s scoring drought before Belmont went into halftime with a, 51-29 lead. TSU only managed to score 13 points in the period.

TSU nearly matched Belmont point-for-point (20-19) in the third period but trailed, 71-48, heading into the final frame.

GAME NOTES

Tia Wooten scored in double-digits for the 22nd consecutive game.

Wooten posted 20+ points in a game for the 14th time this season.

Taylor Roberts scored in double-figures for the sixth consecutive game.

QUOTES Head Coach Jessica Kern

“A 70 point effort against a veteran team with 30+ consecutive wins in this conference. Obviously, they’re very seasoned and play together very well. I’m very happy with our ability to take care of the ball. Sixty-nine shots is too much for us, but 11 turnovers is great for us, and forcing 21 turnovers is even better. The last time we played Jacksonville, we didn’t show up, so we owe them one. But how about Tia Wooten? Having a great night, putting the team on her back, not forcing shots, but letting them come to her. We’ve got some good things to take out of this, but we’ve got to live and learn because we have to get to Evansville.”

Overview of the game

“There’s no pressure. The pressure is the pressure you put on yourself. There’s not a team in this league, unequivocally, that I don’t think we can hang with. That’s just the reality of it. Missed defense assignments? Yes. The teams that shoot will hit open shots. But, again, we have a lot of players playing a lot of minutes, and we had quite a few players going into the second with two fouls, so we had to make some substitutions. But those were basically missed defensive assignments and then bunnies under the rim. We had bunnies under the rim that we simple have to make in that stretch.”

On pressure down the stretch

“It’s nice to see her shoot the ball well, but the best part is she’s handling the ball a lot better. You have to be multifaceted at this level. She had some nice drives to the basket, and took a lot of long shots with a hand in her face - which was great as well. Again, my goal for Kaliya is for her to be able to defend those top players in this league. We can’t shoot it and then give it up. It’s nice to see her come around. She’s itching at averaging double digits, so that’s nice going into February.”

On Kaliya Griffin’s comfort in her shot

UP NEXT

TSU hits the road to face Jacksonville State on Saturday. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. in Pete Mathews Coliseum.